


Day 2: Momentous

by Fanbyhotmess



Series: Zutara Week 2012 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, F/M, Feels, Fluff, I felt so much pain when writing this, Romance, Short One Shot, The feels, Zutara Week 2012, and everytime I reread it, be prepared to cry, elderly romance, hopefully in a good bittersweet kinda way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 13:11:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5709433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanbyhotmess/pseuds/Fanbyhotmess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bittersweet and feels-filled small one-shot of Katara and Zuko's last day together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 2: Momentous

As Katara walked down the small cobbled streets of the fire nation market, she can’t help but smile. Usually the servants will go out and buy the food, but she insisted they let her go out and get it herself. She also refuse the palanquin and guards, she was more than capable of walking a few blocks to get her own food. And even though she was very old, she could defend herself just fine. Besides she was just dying to get out of the palace, it was such hard work being the firelady and ambassador to the Southern water tribe as well; and they barely let her out of there without 24/7 supervision. She hated being cooped up like a trophy, it was so nauseating. The only thing that allowed her to leave at all was her husband who strode beside her, linked arm and arm with her. She and Zuko had been married 70 years now and their children and grand children were all grown up now, they even had great grand children on the way. They both spent most of their days wandering the palace together, many of their old friends had long since passed away and they neared their end as well. They enjoyed every minute together, they were inseparable. Katara couldn’t help but smile as she walked along the deserted market. The air was crisp and the sun was setting, it sent beautiful colors across the darkening sky. The moon could barely be seen coming into shape. She walked up to a small vender and ordered a couple tomato carrots, Sea Comquads and a small box of assorted teas.

“Here you are ma’am”, the vender man said in a gruff voice handing her a small box.

“Thank you my good sir, have a nice evening.” She said her voice cracking a bit. She handed the box to Zuko who already was holding 2 bags and 3 boxes in his arms.

“You have a good one as well ma’am.” The man said waving to them.

“What a nice man, don’t you think dear?” She said after waving back to the man.

“Yes he was very nice, but don’t you think he overpriced you a bit for the tea?” Zuko said adjusting the boxes in his arms, so that he held them with one hand, while holding her hand with the other.

“Oh I suppose so, but tea isn’t supposed to be cheap, especially when it is ever so delicious.” Katara said smiling up at him.

“Yes of course dear.” Zuko said planting a small kiss of her forehead.

As they continued down the street the clouds began to darken overhead and rain began to drizzle. They made back to the palace before it was a complete downpour. Katara deposited the goods in the kitchen and even helped prepare the meal. At dinner the two recalled stories from the war.

“Oh remember when Sokka and you came back from the prison with my dad and Suki, and Toph shouted-“

“Seriously you guys didn’t find any meat?” They both finished together and let out a fit of laughter.

Katara loved recalling old war memories with her husband, see deeply missed her old friends, and all of them had died in the past decade. Her brother’s funeral was the toughest of them all; he even requested to be buried with his trusty boomerang and space sword. A master dork till the very end. And soon she'd join him. This morning she went to the doctors and she found out that she had only a few days left to live; her organs were slowly shutting down, painfully and slowly. So far she had been very good at hiding her pains from Zuko, but today they were really testing her. Tui and La knows how Zuko would take the news, it was better to keep him in the dark. Or at least until the right time would come about. Her dinner almost made an appearance as they walked hand and hand through the palace grounds. As they walked along they spotted their favorite place on the whole grounds. It was a small, spring fed, turtle duck pond with a tall Oak tree growing beside it. The couple gently sat down against the trees massive trunk.

"Ugh I'm getting too old for this." Zuko said wincing as he back protested.

"Oh dear, you always have to complain, at least you're still breathing!" She said whacking him upside the head.

"Oi! What did you do that for?" Zuko grumbled as he rubbed head.

"That was for complaining, mister. You're not going to complain when you have so much." Katara said as she scooted closer to him.

"You're right; I almost forgot that I have you." Zuko said with a grin as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Ugh. You're damn lucky you have me too." Katara said brushing his hand off her shoulder.

"Oh but I am lucky. I mean you're a real catch and a true warrior. Not to mention my firelady." He said pulling her closer to him and planting a kiss on her cheek. "I'm truly grateful for all that you've done for this world and for the world."

"Oh you old softy, you always knew how to soften me up." Katara said a smiling inching its way onto her face. "Besides it's so hard to stay made at you when you're so right." Katara said as she leaned into kiss him.

Even after so many years and so many kisses, she still felt that spark inside her. The one she always got when she was around him. This kiss was special though, it was one of the very few she had left. She felt so young again as she lay there in his arms. She wished the moment would never end, unfortunately her liver and lower abdomen thought the opposite. She tried to casually cover her abdomen with her arm, but the pain didn't lessen. Not one bit. Her heart was racing a thousand miles and hour and her body ached all over. She was so tired and desperately wanted to close her eyes and sleep. She couldn't though; she had a feeling that she might not wake up this time. Instead she tried to focus on Zuko's breathing it was so rhythmic. Ba bum Ba bum Ba bum Ba bum da bum-- da ba bum ba bum. What? Da bum-- da ba bum? That didn't sound right. Maybe she just imagined it, but as she kept listening it repeated itself and sped up as it went.

"Zuko honey, you feeling alright? Your hearts racing!" Katara said placing a hand on his chest.

"Yes darling, I'm perfectly alright." He said smiling down at her.

Katara noticed now that he was sweating, and that he was clenching her shoulders a little too tightly.

"Are you sure, you're sweating profusely and you're holding me a little tight", Katara said shrugging out of his grip.

"Oh it's just a little hot out here, don't worry." He said and kissed her forehead.

"Oh okay, well never mind then." She said with a sigh, laying back into him.

She could still hear his rapid heart beating and his grip had tightened more. She grabbed his other hand and held it tightly in hers. He looked down at her and smiled. They both looked up at the stars, not knowing what to say and wishing the other would speak first. They both desperately wanted to spill their news but neither knew the words to begin with. So they both sat there gazing up at the stars, not knowing each other’s woes. They both knew that tonight would be their last night together and desperately hoped it wouldn't end too soon.

"Zuko-"

"Katara-"

"There's something I need to tell you." they both said at the same time.

"Oh no you first" Katara said with a chuckle.

"Oh um, no you go, ladies first." zuko said shrugging.

"Oh um well, I know you're lying. I can tell that there's something wrong." Katara said, not wanting to say the next sentence and dreading every second until then.

"Oh uh yeah, the doctor told me that my blood pressure is very high and my heart's going to burst soon because of it. I'm dying, Katara" Zuko said sliding away from her.

The words hit her like a tidal wave, but she swallowed hard and whispered the words, “Don’t feel bad Zuko, I went to the doctors a few weeks ago and they told me that I have accelerated lung cancer. My air deprived organs have been slowly shutting down. I'm dying too." Katara said scooting towards him slowly.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I was just worried about your reaction."

Zuko chuckled at her words; his reaction didn't seem to matter at this point. "Well love, I'm right here, and I won't stop breathing until you take your last breathe." He said wiping a tear that had began to slide down her cheek.

He pulled her in close as her felt his heart begin to race faster. "It's going to be okay Katara, just listen to my heartbeat." he said with a cracked voice.

"Okay." Katara said in between sobs. "I hope it doesn't hurt too much, it's been hurting so much lately." She said clutching her abdomen.

Zuko placed his hand over hers and smiled down at her. "It'll be over before you know it." He said as he felt tears form in his eyes.

They lay breathing rapidly, holding out for a glimpse of hope that it wouldn't end soon. Katara couldn't imagine her life without him in it. He had always cared for her and was so gentle with her. She would definitely miss his touch.

"Oh I forgot that I had told the cooks to make your favorite breakfast tomorrow morning. Now I'll never get to share it with you." Katara said sobbing.

"You only have a few breathes left and you decide to waste them by worrying about breakfast? You're so sweet for caring, I love you so much." He said and kissed her atop the head.

"I love you too." She said and brought his face down to hers, planting a big, passionate kiss on his lips, her very last.

And as he pulled away he saw her eyes flutter a bit before closing, a smile graced her pink wrinkled lips. "Go my love. I'll join you shortly." Zuko said as tears rolled down his own wrinkled face.

He lay back holding her in his arms as he felt his own heart growing faint. He took one last look up at the stars and at his wife. Even in her old age, she was still the most beautiful woman in the whole world to him. He planted a small kiss on her lips as he felt his own eyes flutter close. His last glimpse of the world was the smile on her lips; it gave him the strength to smile too.

The couple laid there until sunrise, a group of guards who were patrolling very early spotted them. They were burned together in the same Pyre and their ashes were built into a statue of them. The statue was of them as young adults, embraced it true loves kiss. And there true-love story live on as a momentous reminder that even the most deadliest of foes can learn to love one another in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Reminder: I wrote this way back in 2012. I apologize for the spelling/grammar errors and the simple plots/misinterpretation of the characters. I decided to post the originals instead of reediting them to keep the authenticity of my writing style of the time and show my progress since then.


End file.
